[SLE] howto to backup, repartition, restore?
I have SuSE 6.2 running on a box that I am using as a web server, dhcp server, samba server, firewall, NIS server, NFS server, and to IP Masquerade. It has a 10 gig HD in it... The Partitions: -------------------- How would YOU partition the 10 Gig hard drive? Why? The Bootdisk ---------------------- My understanding is that the OS on the HD should NOT be running when backing the whole things up. This implies to me that I should boot off a floppy and manually mount the hard drive to backup everything to the DAT drive. How do I make a boot floppy with SCSI support which I can use to backup the box? The Backup to and Restore from DAT ------------------------------------------------ Once I boot off the floppy and manually mount the current hard drive to /mnt, I need to do a backup of the hard drive. Is 'tar cvf /dev/st0 /mnt' the best way to backup the hard drive to the DAT drive? If not, what is the best way do backup everything under /mnt? How can I check to see if the backup worked? Do I need to rewind the tape or do anything else other then 'tar xvf /dev/st0 /mnt' to restore the contents? The Bootable HD -------------------------- Considering I am going to be repartitioning and then formating the hard drive, I am going to need to make Linux bootable after I restore everything... How do I make the HD bootable, after the repartitioning, formating, and restoring? Sam -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
On Mon, 03 Jan 2000, Sam Carleton wrote:
How would YOU partition the 10 Gig hard drive? Why?
hda1 8 /boot # LILO limitation; /boot must be under the 1024th cyl. hda2 128 /swap # Habit. More is okay, but not necessarily a good idea. hda3 256 /home # Do you need more? Add it. hda4 / # Ease of use. Setting partition sizes for the rest is clumsy If you feel like setting /var, /usr, or whatever aside, choose wisely. Set /dev/hda4 as an extended partition and make the others inside it (hda5, hda6 and so on). IMHO, for a non-trivial system, one big / partition allows for a more dynamic file system.
How do I make a boot floppy with SCSI support which I can use to backup the box?
This is complicated. Have a look at the `Backing up DOS with Linux HOWTO' at http://www.linuxdoc.org.
The Bootable HD -------------------------- Considering I am going to be repartitioning and then formating the hard drive, I am going to need to make Linux bootable after I restore everything...
Using the bootdisk that YaST made (system administration, kernel/boot configuration, boot disk), reboot the system and call `lilo' or use YaST to rebuild /etc/lilo.conf and run it from there. -- -=|JP|=- Jon Pennington | Atipa Linux Solutions -o) jpennington@atipa.com | http://www.atipa.com /\\ Kansas City, MO, USA | 816-241-2641 _\_V -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
Jon and Koos, I would like to thank both of you for your help. I was successful in backingup, partitioning the HD, and restoring! I am running again and it only took able an hour! Thanks a million!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sam -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
Sam Carleton wrote:
The Bootdisk ---------------------- My understanding is that the OS on the HD should NOT be running when backing the whole things up. This implies to me that I should boot off a floppy and manually mount the hard drive to backup everything to the DAT drive.
I think that in the end you have a contradiction somewhere. Why would you boot of a floppy for a complete system backup? If the system is vital, you don't want to take the system down just for the sake of a backup. If you would just backup the data/config directories (E.g. /etc /boot /sbin/init.d /data) you would have enough to regain a working system after reinstalling from cdrom) You would probably be running within less then one day. These kind of backups are much much faster then the cumbersome floppy boot / backup sequence. What is yout estiamte of the chance of having a total system crash (e.g. your harddisk got screwed)? Is it worth the trouble of the floppy approach? What would the benefits be?
How do I make a boot floppy with SCSI support which I can use to backup the box?
The floppydisk is already ready and available. Take Tom's rescue boot disk (tomsrtbt) from http://www.toms.net and you have networking and scsi support on one (!) floppy disk.
The Backup to and Restore from DAT ------------------------------------------------ Once I boot off the floppy and manually mount the current hard drive to /mnt, I need to do a backup of the hard drive.
Is 'tar cvf /dev/st0 /mnt' the best way to backup the hard drive to the DAT drive? If not, what is the best way do backup everything under /mnt?
It probably is. Check the tar man pages for details. You may want to make it a relative backup: cd /mnt tar cvf /dev/st0 Otherwise you can not restore it at another location.
How can I check to see if the backup worked?
tar tvf /dev/st0
Do I need to rewind the tape or do anything else other then 'tar xvf /dev/st0 /mnt' to restore the contents?
No. /dev/st0 is the rewinding device. It will always start from the beginning.
The Bootable HD -------------------------- Considering I am going to be repartitioning and then formating the hard drive, I am going to need to make Linux bootable after I restore everything...
How do I make the HD bootable, after the repartitioning, formating, and restoring?
This is fairly well documented in the SuSE manual and the lilo manpages. In short: run lilo after booting from floppy. But check the doc's for the important details. Koos Pol ---------------------------------------------------------------------- S.C. Pol T: +31 20 3116122 Systems Administrator F: +31 20 3116200 Compuware Europe B.V. E: koos_pol@nl.compuware.com Amsterdam PGP public key available -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
participants (4)
-
activex1＠one.net -
Anonymous User -
jpennington＠atipa.com -
koos.pol＠nl.compuware.com